Title: A prophylactic strategy for Global synthesis of

Optical Systems and Modules in payloads

Author: Lakshminarayan Hazra

Department of Applied Optics and Photonics
University of Calcutta
92 A.P.C. Road
Kolkata 700 009 INDIA
E-mail: lnhaphy@caluniv.ac.in, lnhazra@sify.com
lakshminarayanhazra@gmail.com

Abstract
Most optical or electro-optical systems used in payloads
constitute a lens subsystem that carries out the core optical
functions of the system. The term ‘lens’ is used in an extended
sense to indicate all refracting, reflecting and diffractive
elements used in the system. In practice, optimal design of these
elements pertaining to specific requirements of different
applications poses a major challenge in optical system design,
except for the trivial cases. In spite of ready availability of
powerful optical design software, real success in optical system
design calls for experience and ingenuity of the designer in
working out the structural design layout for specific problems.

In order to facilitate the same, a prophylactic strategy to obtain

globally or quasi-globally optimum solutions for the
nondeterministic polynomial (NP) time hard problem of lens
design optimization has been developed. The inherent “curse of
dimensionality” associated with this problem can be
circumvented by taking recourse to a synergistic combination of
top-down and bottom-up approaches. The strategy leads to a
systematic approach for global synthesis of optical and electro-
optical systems, obviating thereby the need for use of
suboptimal makeshift solutions often used in practice.

1
The essential point in the whole approach is to realise that a
“good” optical system can only be obtained by a combination of
“bad” components. However, the defects of these bad
components can not be arbitrary defects; a good system for a
given configuration calls for specific defects in its components
or modules. The strategy advocated in this talk does not only
lead to globally or quasi-globally optimum solutions for
conventional optical systems, but it also provides cues for
efficient use of unconventional optical elements in emerging
applications.

For a complex system consisting of several modules, our

strategy enables optimal modification of part/parts of the system
or the system as a whole. Globally optimum values of desirable
defects for each of the modules to be modified are determined
first with the help of evolutionary programming. Next, a
combination of semi-analytical procedures and global
optimization techniques are utilized for synthesizing each of the
defective modules. At each stage, appropriate measures are
incorporated to prevent undesirable occurrence of higher order
aberrations in the system. Lastly, the overall system obtained
thereby can be re-optimized again with the help of available
degrees of freedom.

Our prophylactic strategy, briefly enunciated as above, does not

only reduce significantly the role of heuristics in optical design,
but it also enables better understanding of the behaviour of
modules comprising the optical system. The strategy is based on
aberration theory, local optimization algorithms and
evolutionary programming. Some illustrative examples are
presented.